This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
All internal combustion engines require some type of fuel delivery means to provide fuel to the internal combustion engine. One of the current systems utilizes gasoline direct injection, which is delivered through a plurality of injectors, connected to a common rail above the intake of the engine. The fuel is delivered to each individual cylinder under high pressure, so a secure attachment of the fuel rail to the cylinder head of the engine is critical.
This high pressures under which Direct Injection Systems operate can cause strain on the fuel interface between the attachment of each individual fuel injector and the fuel rail itself, often causing premature failure.
One example of a countermeasure to this stress is disclosed in US patent application 2012/0138020 by applicants Kweon et al. In this reference, a bridge is implemented between an individual injector mounting cup and a fuel rail mounting unit. This bridge serves a similar purpose as to disperse the energy from the fuel injection action to both the fuel rail and the fuel rail mounting point.
One shortcoming of this reference is that the bridge is disposed directly between the fuel injector cup and the mounting point, and therefore can only minimize the twisting effect from rotational force of the injector cup relative to the mounting point to a limited degree before the connection of the bridge to either the injection cup and or the mounting point would fail. This is because between the attachment of the bridge and the attachment to the rail, the injector cup is only secured within 90 degrees or so of its 360 degree circumference. As the additional reference is included, we can compare side by side analysis of the prior art and the current disclosure thereto.
Furthermore, with the fuel injector cup being integrated with the mounting point, it is difficult to manufacture or install with correct precision, requiring either to be co-formed with the injector cup and/or mounting point, or inserted between the injector cup and the mounting point and subsequently bonded thereto.
Lastly, due to the increasing demand to make vehicles lighter and more fuel efficient, every little bit of added weight is important, and by design, the bridge disclosed in the above prior art adds unnecessary weight to the vehicle.